Tag Archive for Men’s Circles

How many of you are familiar with the concept of The Sibling Society? I have hyper linked the term with a page about Robert Bly’s book. The essence of Bly’s book is around our society being run by adolescent men – men who have literally not emotionally grown up. These are men who have not taken the path of spiritual and emotional maturity; but rather one that focuses on the bottom line in spite of everything else.

As British Columbia (BC)’s West Coast Men’s Support Society (WCMSS)- a place for men to come for support around their emotional health, we strongly support men in getting in touch with their mature masculinity. We are hopeful that men will become more aware of their emotional needs, losses, and where their emotional work lies.

We are also affiliated with British Columbia (BC)’s Mankind Project – an organization dedicated to changing the world one man at a time. The Mankind Project hopes to accomplish this by inviting men to gather together, and to witness one another going deeper and revealing their shadows – the part of ourselves that we hide, repress, and deny. It is a part of ourselves that typically comes out sideways because we are not connected with it. It quite often takes others to act as our mirror to bring up our shadowy parts. We then project these dark aspects of ourselves onto these people/mirrors. This is what we refer to as our “work” – our emotional work – we all have it.

The biggest challenge that we at The WCMSS find men have is simply ASKING FOR HELP. We find that men will look at themselves as failures if they ASK FOR HELP; and yet, if they do not, then they will be perpetually lost in their emotional unavailable state, and will be disconnected from everyone around them in a REAL way.

Therefore, in order for men to truly become mature masculine beings, it is crucial that they step out of their comfort zone and ASK FOR HELP. This will allow them to begin the journey along the path of spiritual and emotional maturity.

I discussed the need for society to work towards an equilibrium between the support and understanding of women’s and men’s emotions.

I discussed the need for an understanding of the sacred masculine and how important this is.

I wanted to clarify that the need for a safe place for men to go to to seek help in no way minimizes the need for women’s centres – places for women to go for support. I am simply emphasizing that both genders require support – typically from their own gender in order to be safe and healthy.

I confirmed that we support men’s work across British Columbia – including: up and down Vancouver Island and the Okanagan. We are working to build connections in the Lower Mainland, the Kootenays, and in the northern regions of BC. We want to help men wherever they reside.

It is truly our hope that the new Men’s Centre at Simon Fraser will mark the beginning of a more balanced society – where both women’s and men’s emotional lives are being supported.